Diagnosis X
by chromium clockwork
Summary: When her father remarries, Kitty Thompson is relocated from NYC to Forks, Washington. When a practical joke leaves her lost in the forest, she is found by Jacob Black. Kitty is intrigued by her new acquaintance, who is dark, mysterious, and strangely repulsed by her. Meanwhile, the werewolves are dealing with a few problems of their own... Jacob/OC
1. Prologue: Nightmares

**Diagnosis X**

**Full Summary: **When her father remarries, Kitty Thompson is relocated from NYC to Forks, Washington. When a practical joke leaves her lost in the forest, she is found by Jacob Black. Kitty is intrigued by her new acquaintance, who is dark, mysterious, and strangely repulsed by her. Meanwhile, the werewolves are dealing with a few problems of their own-Leah has ditched the pack and gone off on her own, and the corpses of vampires fallen victim to some strange new disease may call attention to the supernatural residents of the area...

**Warnings:** OC protagonist, OC pairing, ignores the events of Breaking Dawn

* * *

"_Rivalry goes so deep  
__between me and this loss of sleep  
__over you."_

-Dead on Arrival, _Fall Out Boy_

* * *

**Prologue: Nightmares**

* * *

Jacob Black was lean with wiry muscle and inhumanly tall. Natural strength exuded from him in waves, laced with a hint of rebellion. He was passionate in everything he felt: love, anger, hate. Hopelessness.

And Jacob Black was crying.

As sobs and the overpowering urge to transmute racked his body with tremors, he reflected bitterly on what he once had told Bella. _"I'll never see anyone else, Bella. I only see you. Even when I close my eyes and try to see something else."_ It was still true. He couldn't ever imagine it becoming untrue. And he imagined what she had looked like that afternoon, walking down a red-carpeted isle. Human, with chocolate eyes and imperfect, but beautiful, features. And clumsy, of course. It wouldn't have been surprising if she had tripped over the trail of her gown, and _fell_ half the way to the alter.

Jacob tried not to think about what waited for his Bella at that alter. Neither did he concentrate on what would happen afterwards.

Though he had hoped the pressure of not thinking would help sleep elude him, Jacob found soon that there was no fighting the bone-deep exhaustion that was a result of stress and little rest.

_His was running, but seemed to be unable to drag enough air into his lungs. Just feet from the edge of the forest—so close to escape—he was overcome with a wave of vertigo and collapsed. He tried to reach out, to crawl, but when he brought his hand across his line of vision, the skin was droopy and wrinkled. His eyes traveled up his arm, widening as he took in the liver spots, and when his shaggy hair fell into his face, it was steely gray. Horrified, he tried to stand up; aching joints held him paralyzed to the ground. But that wasn't the worst part: the change would not come._

_Jacob struggled, searching for the part liquid fire, part solid energy feeling he had come to recognize as the wolf within him. It shouldn't have been this hard to find. Normally, it moved his blood, beat his heart, inflated his lungs—but it was lost to him. Panic and nausea took its place, overwhelming him, seeming to pour out of his mouth like a vile and acidic poison._

_And then Bella was there. He could see the lace on the hem of her wedding gown, yellowed with age, as she knelt down next to him, her hair tumbling over her shoulders. He turned his face away, but she slipped an icy, pale hand under his chin and twisted his head around, exuding a strength and grace she had never possessed. Robbed of the part of him that was a werewolf, Jacob couldn't stop from looking. Her eyes were blood red, and though it was dark, her skin sparkled like diamonds in the sun._

"_Oh, Jacob, my Jacob," she crooned, her voice like a lullaby as her cold thumb caressed his wrinkled face._

"_Bella!" he gasped, his breath coming in short, asthmatic gulps. His voice was distraught. "No, Bella, please, you're not like them!"_

_She giggled in response, and tipped his head back to expose his throat. "Poor Jacob, if you had just let me turn you, we could have stopped this!" she teased, eying the prominent veins through his skin. "But I suppose you'll just have to die now."_

"_Bella," Jacob tried again._

"_Don't worry," she cooed. "I'll make sure it won't hurt a bit." And it wasn't even recognizably his Bella anymore, her eyes crazed with bloodlust and her laughter cruel and taunting as she brought her mouth to his throat—_

_And her lips were so cold that they reached absolute zero, so cold that he could feel the scar tissue exploding in the shape of her kiss as it burned him, ripping through everything that kept him alive. He felt his heart stop beating, his lungs stop breathing, and finally his nerves stopped transmitting._

_To think that once he had felt that life would be a small price to pay to have her lips on his skin. Jacob Black lay quietly dying, hypnotized by the seductive feel of the blood leaving his body._

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**A/N:** Hey guys! Making an attempt at a multi-chapter fic. Make sure to review and let me know what you think!


	2. Chapter 1: Legacy

**Diagnosis X**

**Full Summary: **When her father remarries, Kitty Thompson is relocated from NYC to Forks, Washington. When a practical joke leaves her lost in the forest, she is found by Jacob Black. Kitty is intrigued by her new acquaintance, who is dark, mysterious, and strangely repulsed by her. Meanwhile, the werewolves are dealing with a few problems of their own-Leah has ditched the pack and gone off on her own, and the corpses of vampires fallen victim to some strange new disease may call attention to the supernatural residents of the area...

**Warnings:** OC protagonist, OC pairing, ignores the events of Breaking Dawn

* * *

"_When you walked out on me,  
__in walked old Misery,  
__and he's been here since then."_

-Since I Don't Have You, _Guns N' Roses_

* * *

**Chapter One: Legacy**

* * *

_Five years later…_

Kitty studied her bowl of whole wheat cereal, crumpling a paper towel that she had just used to clean up milk spatters in one hand. It was _possible_ that the cereal—bird food, she thought disgustedly—would flavor the milk so terribly. Possible, but simply not likely. Cautiously, she prodded and stirred the milk. No lumps, but that didn't mean anything, not really.

"Stella?" she called out. "When did you get this milk? I think it's spoiled."

A tall, wiry woman poked her head through the doorway of the kitchen. "I just picked it up at the store day before yesterday. It should still be good."

"It doesn't taste right," Kitty insisted. "Really. Try it."

Stella laughed in reply. "It's just the soy milk. You'll get used to it pretty fast, honestly. And it's good for you."

Kitty looked down at her breakfast. "Oh. Lovely. _This_ again."

Stella was good for her dad, Kitty reminded herself firmly. And she only had another year before she graduated. Sometimes, it felt like those two facts were the only thing that stood between her and strangling her stepmother. Not that the woman was deliberately mean, or anything. In fact, Kitty was pretty sure she could not have killed a fly under threat of death to not only her, but her new stepdaughter and husband as well.

Stella Thompson _nee _Terrano was vegan, pacifistic, and supremely optimistic. Red-headed and brown-eyed, the thirty-nine year old woman was as smooth-skinned and bouncy as any twenty-five year-old, a success she insisted came from her healthy, meatless eating habits. She was extremely flexible, resulting from heaps of yoga classes, and unflappable due to daily meditation. Really, right up until Kitty's father had married Stella, there was nothing _not_ to like about her. Now that they shared the same roof, however, seventeen year old Kitty was wondering how awful it would be to insist on having _real_ food.

Once Stella had left the vicinity, Kitty hastily stood up, taking her bowl over to the kitchen sink to dump out the soy milk-and-wheat mush and rinse her bowl. Her stomach grumbled disagreeably, and she sighed.

Who would have thought that someone could ever look forward to school lunch so much?

But choking her way through health food this early was way too much for anyone to ask, Kitty decided firmly. Especially after that _whatever_ it was last night for dinner.

Forty-five minutes later, she was calling her good-byes to Stella and her father, Henry, and stepping out the door. She cranked up her blue pick-up truck—Stella had given it the evil eye ever since it had taken up residence in her drive way, but Kitty had held her ground—and headed out to her first day at Forks High School.

A year and a half ago, Henry had met Stella Terrano on an online match site. Six months later, they were engaged, and at the end of Kitty's junior year at her high school in New York City, Henry packed up himself, his daughter, and the two bedroom apartment they shared to move out to Forks. The rainy town in Washington challenged every view of life Kitty had ever formulated.

Summer had been a boring two months of unpacking and fruitless attempts to convince Stella to let her paint her room any other color than the crème white state it was currently in—Stella refused vehemently, claiming it would mess up the delicate energy flow in her house. Kitty had been looking forward to school as an escape for weeks, but as she pulled in to a parking spot a short walk away from the school, she felt nerves attempt to swamp her.

People were already making their way in to the school, though the bell wasn't scheduled to ring for another fifteen minutes by the clock that was mounted on her dashboard. But then, someone getting a detention for being late would probably constitute as news in a school where the whole student body would make up about a third of Kitty's senior class back in New York. Actually, she would be willing to bet that a new student was something that could be labeled as "high point of the year."

People were already starting to look at the strange truck in their midst, not bothering to conceal the curious stares and pointed fingers.

Kitty sighed, and glanced over her reflection in the rearview mirror. She had pale blond hair with just a little bit of wave that didn't quite reach her shoulders—she snorted in annoyance at the humidity, which had already started to make her frizz—and baby blue eyes accented with heavy eyeliner and gray eye shadow. Her nose was a little on the large side and slightly hooked. Her mouth was tipped up in a natural smile, covered in bubblegum pink gloss, the bottom lip fuller than the top. She was short, barely reaching five feet and two inches, and softly plump and curvy.

Steeling herself, she slipped out of the truck and headed to her first class—chemistry—clutching her schedule in one hand, her other steadying the bag she had slung over one shoulder. Suddenly, she was unsure of her color choice. The large, plastic-y hot pink tote was meant to boost her confidence, but coupled with her sleek, faux leather jacket and white dress, it seemed a little less than tasteful. Gaudy, even, when compared with the throngs of people in faded jeans and t-shirts or polos.

Could she have marked herself as 'foreign' any better than this?

Probably not. Kitty sighed.

After stopping to ask instructions from several faculty members and students, she located her chemistry classroom, headed by a short, balding man called Mr. Capp. He had a stern glare and hawkish nose, and his voice was hoarse and loud as he called out names in alphabetical order to assign seats.

"Teak, Heather and Thompson, Katalina," he finished, pointing out a lab table in the corner. Kitty walked over and slid into a chair, and watched the slow approach of Heather Teak. Heather had brown hair so dark it was almost black cut off right blow her ears and sickly pale skin. In fact, her hazel eyes were the only color to her: she was dressed in a black blouse, skirt, and ankle high boots. From what Kitty had seen of Forks, she thought that Heather might have been the sole member of the goth clique.

"Hello, Heather," Kitty greeted cautiously, eying the girl.

"Katalina," Heather greeted, her voice low and morose.

"Actually, I go by Kitty. I, um, like your boots." Kitty offered.

Heather's smile reminded Kitty of someone trying to see the silver lining at a funeral. "Thanks."

Without warning, Mr. Capp shot off into a lecture, and Heather turned towards the teacher, her eyes showing apt attention. Kitty tried to do the same, but found very quickly that elements weren't half as interesting as they ought to be. Weren't there only supposed to be four of them?

They were about halfway through the lecture when she gave up transposing it into her notebook, and instead turned her gel pen to doodling on the margins of the paper. Heather's dryly amused glance strayed to meet Kitty's confused eyes before snapping back to the front of the classroom, and in the moment of contact, Kitty offered a hopeless smile.

When the class was over, she sighed in relief and muttered "Thank _god_," as Mr. Capp rattled off pages to read from the book he was passing out.

"If you ever need help," Heather began, her voice making Kitty jump, "I'd be happy to give it to you."

"Thanks." Kitty doubted that Heather could be _happy_, but it was a nice offer.

Afterwards, she had English, which was just as befuddling as Chemistry—Really, she thought, the one class that _shouldn't_ have sounded like a foreign language—Kitty was off to sit through mathematics.

Outside of her Calculus classroom, however, she was stopped by a tall, slender girl who screamed "SELF-CONFIDENSE" from her carefully casual posture to her curious green eyes and penciled in, raised eyebrows—legacy of her pale red hair, worn long and effortlessly straight.

"Hey, I'm Ashley," the girl greeted, her voice warm and overly friendly.

"Hi," Kitty replied, trying to study the girl discreetly. "I'm Kitty." If those weren't designer jeans, then she wasn't from New York, Kitty decided.

"So, you're new to Forks?" The question was entirely rhetorical, because before Kitty had a chance to answer she added, "Where are you from?"

"New York."

"The city, or the state?" Ashley asked.

"City," Kitty responded, flushing slightly.

"Oh, _wow!_" Ashley's eyes widened. "That's like, totally awesome."

Kitty smiled. "Yeah, it was pretty cool," she said.

"Why'd you move here? We can't offer an experienced city girl much," Ashley joked.

"My dad's new wife lives here—Stella Terrano. She wasn't really keen on moving to the city."

"Oh, Stella—she runs the yoga center slash health food store, right?" Ashley's nose crinkled slightly. "She's nice, but that soy milk is _awful_."

"_Tell_ me about it," Kitty said emphatically. Anyone who wasn't big on soy milk couldn't be that bad. After all, _the enemy of my enemy is my friend_. "That and water's all I've had to drink for the past two months."

Ashley laughed at that. "Sit with me and my friends at lunch today," she suggested. "We'll buy you pop from the vending machine in honor of your first real meal in Forks."

"I may have to take you up on that," Kitty agreed, smiling. "But I should probably get to class."

"Oh, I think I have Calculus with you," Ashley said. "Here you can sit next to me!" The bell rang suddenly. "Oh, oops. I made you late. Sorry!" She smiled sheepishly.

"It's okay."

At that point a large woman with wire rimmed glasses and broad shoulders approached the two girls. "Are you ready to come in so that I may start class, Miss Hammond and Miss…?"

"Thompson," Kitty supplied, ducking her head and heading for one of two empty seats in the back row. Ashley, suppressing giggles, followed.

Kitty soon found, however, that it was not as easy to absorb herself in the math as she would have liked. Math being her one good subject, the counselors at her old school had eagerly set her up on an advanced track. She had been prepared to go into advanced placement classes in calculus this year, but due to Fork's small population, the class choices were limited. The basics of Calculus that seemed to make up most of the class curriculum had all been discussed in her Pre-Calc Honors class the year before.

Ashley, on the other hand, had no attention to spare; she took notes furiously in a composition notebook. Watching her, Kitty quickly gave up on the idea of passing notes.

The minutes dragged by, and Calculus eventually turned into Gym, and finally lunch. Kitty scanned the room until she spotted Ashley sitting with six other people at a table near the center of the room. Delicately, like a cat testing water with her paws, she made her way through the people to slip into an empty space across from Ashley.

"Hey," Ashley exclaimed, grinning her welcome. "We have soda, as promised. Diet or regular?"

"Regular," Kitty said, reaching over to accept the offered drink. "You are a lifesaver."

The boy sitting to the left of Ashley laughed. He was blond, with the bright brown eyes of a puppy, tall and well-muscled. "You haven't sat through lunch with her yet.

The girl on one side of Kitty nodded with eager agreement. Her short brown hair, pulled back into a ponytail but mostly secured with bobby pins, bobbed in time. "She'll talk your ear off," she warned in a high pitched, girlish voice.

"Well," Kitty grimaced and braced her shoulders bravely, "for something other than soy milk, I am willing to take risks."

"Alright, Kitty," Ashley began. "These are my friends. He," she pointed at the blond boy, "is Michael Reed, and Lindsey Sparks..." the short-haired brunette. There were four other people sitting with them: red-headed twins Terry and Natalie Boot, greeted Kitty cheerfully when they were introduced; slight and mousy Janet Parker, who smiled and fluttered her fingers; and gorgeous, blond Tina Smith, who merely heaved a bored sigh and wrapped a possessive arm around Terry.

"Kitty's stepmom is Stella Teranno. Or, well, Stella Thompson, now." Ashley made a face as she shared this information.

"I'd heard she'd gotten married," Janet said. "You poor thing!"

Terry chuckled. "Just remind me that I never want to eat at your place."

Talk at the lunch table, Kitty found, was very interactive and fast-paced, generally involving frantic hand motions and frequent commentary from the speaker's audience. Once Ashley had told everyone that Kitty was from "New York! The _city__!_ Can you _believe_ it?" she was pestered for details and stories of her old life. She had just finished eating a sandwich donated to her by Lindsey and describing the finer points of the widely used public transportation system (to which Tina sniffed delicately in disdain) when the bell rang.

"Sorry I kind of put you in the spotlight at lunch there," Ashley apologized.

"It's alright," Kitty assured her. "I didn't mind at all." In fact, she thought to herself, the five seconds of fame was pretty gratifying.

"It's just, you know," Ashley went on, unstoppable as a steamroller as she walked with Kitty to Spanish, "we don't really get a lot of new people here. And you're from New York!"

Kitty laughed.

"I mean, really. In the past ten years, I bet we've probably gotten like, maybe _six_ kids move in to the high school. Can you believe that?"

Kitty shook her head. "Not really. Wow."

"Yeah, really. And the only one to come from a big city was this girl from Phoenix, Bella Swan, like seven years ago. Well," Ashley lowered her voice dramatically, "Bella _Cullen_ now."

Kitty was intrigued. It was obvious that there was some kind of scandalous story here. Suddenly, she wondered if that was part of the lure of being friends with her: to see if all big city girls had a nose for the outrageous. She smiled crookedly at the thought.

"Well, I'm off to English!" Ashley said, wiggling her fingers. "See you later!"

After a grueling period of Spanish—it seemed like she had forgotten everything she had learned in Spanish I the previous year—and an equally boring history lecture, Kitty went to her last class of the day: computer literacy, in the library.

"Hey Kitty!" Janet's brown eyes were sparkling with eager excitement, covered by her mop of dishwater hair that she pushed impatiently out of her eyes. "I guess you have Computer Lit. with me, huh?"

"Hey Janet. I guess so." Kitty smiled.

"That's awesome," Janet informed her. "It's the easiest class in the world, because they only teach you how to touch type. You can do that, right?"

"Oh, sure," Kitty waved one hand. "Can't everyone?"

Janet sighed dramatically. "I keep telling them that they should just substitute a bell of instant messaging for this class, but no one will listen to me."

"I think it's a good idea," Kitty said approvingly. "That's how I learned!"

"Me too!" Janet giggled. "So, do you like Forks?"

"It's…different," Kitty said slowly. "I didn't realize everyone would be so curious about me, though."

"Oh, yeah. Sorry about interrogating you at lunch. If you have any questions you want to ask, feel free. We just don't get too many new kids."

Kitty nodded. "That's what Ashley said. And I do have a question, actually."

"Oh really? What is it? And if it's about that water fountain in E hall…"

"No actually," Kitty laughed. "I got someone in my history class to answer that one for me. You just have to kick it first, right?"

"Exactly." Janet nodded furiously. "So what was your question?"

"Well, Ashley mentioned someone named Bella Cullen, when she was talking about new kids, and it sounded like there might have been a story there…?"

"Oh, yeah," Janet's eyes widened. "You don't live here long without hearing about Bella."

"So what was the deal?"

"Well," Janet began. "She moved in seven years ago, but the story _really_ starts with the Cullens…

"The Cullens moved in not long before Bella did. Dr. Cullen and his wife were both very young, but they had a slew of kids they adopted. All of them were really gorgeous, too, like, unnaturally beautiful. They had two daughters, Rosalie and Alice, and three sons, Jasper, Emmet, and Edward.

"No one knew much about the Cullens. They were just the kind of people that were really uncomfortable to be around, you know? Almost _too_ perfect, and they knew it. They didn't flaunt it or anything, you could just tell that they knew. Rosalie and Emmet were dating, and so were Jasper and Alice, but Edward…Edward broke the heart of practically every girl in the high school at the time, because he 'didn't date.'" Janet made quotation marks with her fingers. "And boy, was he beautiful.

"Then along came Bella Swan, just moved in from Phoenix. Don't get me wrong, she was pretty enough, but in the ordinary kind of way. Nothing compared to _Rosalie_, of course. And she was clumsy. But those two, they fell hard for each other, you know? It didn't make a lot of sense, but apparently it was love at first sight.

"Then the next year, they moved. Dr. Cullen got offered a job in LA. And everyone at the time figured that Edward and Bella would try it long distance, you know? Because the whole town knew they were real serious about each other and stuff. And so, it was the _weirdest_ thing when he dumped her.

"Bella took it real hard. Went all depressed and stuff. Her friends said that she didn't talk for months. But after a while, she started hanging down at La Push—you know, the Quileute reservation?" Kitty nodded. "And she got better, for the most part. Everyone figured she was gonna get involved with Jacob Black, because any idiot could tell that he was head over heels with her, and that he was the one holding her together…

And then one day, the Cullens came back, out of the blue. And Bella Swan, she left Jacob for Edward, and just like that—" Janet snapped her fingers demonstratively, "Edward was back to being the center of her life. We all thought there was going to be a fight—there was a lot of friction for a couple months. But suddenly, Jacob just gave up. And the next thing anyone knows, Bella and Edward are announcing the engagement!"

"Oh wow," Kitty murmured. "That's harsh."

"Oh yeah," Janet agreed. "Jacob apparently took it real hard. And then Edward and Bella Cullen were off to the University of Alaska Southeast, and no one's seen them since. Not even Bella's father, the head of the Police Department here, although I guess she's called a couple of times. But the crazy thing is, they apparently never even actually went to college." Janet lowered her voice conspiringly. "We all think she got pregnant, and just didn't want anyone knowing."

Kitty took a breath. "Yeah, that theory makes a lot of sense.

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**A/N:** Make sure to read and review!


	3. Chapter 2: Beasts

**Diagnosis X**

**Full Summary: **When her father remarries, Kitty Thompson is relocated from NYC to Forks, Washington. When a practical joke leaves her lost in the forest, she is found by Jacob Black. Kitty is intrigued by her new acquaintance, who is dark, mysterious, and strangely repulsed by her. Meanwhile, the werewolves are dealing with a few problems of their own-Leah has ditched the pack and gone off on her own, and the corpses of vampires fallen victim to some strange new disease may call attention to the supernatural residents of the area...

**Warnings:** OC protagonist, OC pairing, ignores the events of Breaking Dawn

* * *

"_I have nothing to give  
__and so much to lose."_

-Fear, _Sarah McLachlan_

* * *

Chapter Two: Beasts

* * *

With a relieved sigh, Kitty dumped her Chemistry book back into her bag and heaved it onto the rolling chair in her stepmother's office. The muffled sound of voices out front suggested her mother was discussing business with a client, so she slumped against the wall, bringing up a hand to look at her watch. It was a little after five; Stella would be closing up right after she dealt with whoever she was with now.

Five days into the school year and she was already glad it was the weekend. Kitty was pretty sure that wasn't a good sign, but what related to school ever was? Her blue truck had refused to start the day before, so Stella had ever helpfully offered to drive her to and from school until they could get somebody to look at it. Personally, Kitty suspected that her truck had a little help with its deterioration. Sure, it wasn't brand new, but it wasn't old either, and it had worked fine all summer. Not that she'd had anywhere to drive to often, but still.

"Kitty, dear?" Stella poked her head through the door. Her eyebrows were raised. "You have company out here."

Confused, Kitty straightened and walked out of the office and into the front of the Cornucopia Health and Wellness Center. In the lobby, there were several shelves crammed in to the small space, overflowing with soy-based and organic products. Off to one side, a wall of refrigerators held the soy milk. An open doorway led to the studio where Stella hosted early morning yoga classes. Near the cash register, Ashley stood with the group of people who frequented the lunch table.

"Kitty!" she called out happily. "I called your home phone, but your dad said you were still here."

"Yeah, we're gonna leave in a few minutes." Kitty smiled. "So what's up?"

"We're going out to the beach at La Push," Natalie said, bouncing slightly.

"It's great," her brother, Terry, added. "You wanna come?"

"It will be _excellent_," Ashley assured her.

Kitty looked over one shoulder at Stella. "Can I, please?"

"Alright," Stella agreed good-naturedly. "Curfew's one, but you'll need to find a ride if you're staying out later than ten, so call me or Henry if you can't find someone."

"Don't worry, Mrs. Thompson," Michael promised her. "Ashley and I will make sure she gets home. We even brought umbrellas." He hugged Ashley around the shoulders.

"We'll get her there too!" Ashley added. "You can ride with us and Janet. Everyone else is going with Terry and Natalie's car in their car."

Kitty was hustled out through the rain into Ashley's little silver car (Stella nodded with approval) and she crawled into the back next to Janet. Ashley hopped into the passenger seat, turning up the radio as soon as Michael got in the car, and started talking loudly over the music about genres.

"Mike here, he likes metal and hard stuff," she told Kitty. "I think pop sounds, so much better, though, and…"

The duration of the fifteen minute car ride was spent in heated debate between Michael and Ashley, with Janet interrupting at intervals to defend country music (apparently the one kind of music both Mike and Ashley detested) and Kitty supporting her. Ashley was shocked to discover that Kitty liked it. "It's so…so…small-town!" she exclaimed.

Kitty chuckled. "That gives it a certain appeal, because it's so _foreign_ to me," she explained. "It's why I got a truck as soon as I moved out here!"

"And look where that got you," Mike snorted. "It broke down!"

Kitty watched out the car window, waiting for the ocean to come into view. Her nose flared when she could smell the saltwater. "It's lovely," she murmured.

"Too bad you didn't know us this summer," Janet told her, smiling, as she got out of the car. The rain had stalled, but looking at the perpetual cloud cover, the break was likely to be brief.

"Yeah," Lindsey agreed, scooting out of the Boots' car, as a boy who Kitty vaguely recognized from her history and English classes held open the door. "The summer was, wasn't it Tina?"

"Sure, whatever," Tina said grudgingly.

"It's a good thing you have a jacket," Ashley added, "because it gets chilly in the evenings here, with the breeze and all."

"We'll have a fire, though," Lindsey said, gesturing to the boy who had helped her out of the car. "Scott brought wood."

"So did I," Mike put in. "And there's sure to be some other people here. Maybe they'll have some to donate."

"The La Push boys might come down, too!" Natalie giggled.

Ashley laughed. "You just want to ogle Sam and his pack of friends."

"They're cute," Natalie responded defensively.

"They are, too," Janet told Kitty. "You should see them, all of them! Six and a half feet each if they're an inch. It's like they've been snacking on Miracle Grow!"

"Dream on," Tina sneered. "Most of them are taken. You can tell Embry's had his eye on _someone_ for the past two years—everyone says so—and I've never seen that Quil boy take so much as a glance at any girl." Kitty thought she sounded offended. "And there's Jacob, of course."

Debate ensued from the girls on the subject of "that Quil boy" and his sexual orientation (Tina insisted he was gay) as Michael dug a Frisbee out from the trunk of his car and tossed it to Scott. Curiously, Kitty leaned over to Janet and asked, "What about Jacob?"

Janet pursed her lips and whispered back, "Jacob Black? You remember what I told you about Bella Cullen, how she broke his heart? He's not been with any girl since. I've heard he doesn't really appreciate getting hit on, either."

Kitty felt a ping of sympathy, and she laughed to cover it up. "You hear everything, Janet," she claimed. Janet looked pleased.

"I'm going to be a famous reporter when I graduate," she told Kitty. "I'm gonna get a degree in journalism, and one day, you'll see me on Entertainment Tonight!"

Kitty exchanged a high five with her friend. "Go for it!"

At that moment, Ashley interrupted their conversation. "Come on!" she urged. Let's go down to the beach! Race you there!" With that, she ran off, closely followed by Janet, Lindsey, and Mike. Everyone else followed behind at a more leisurely pace.

When the sun began to set later, Kitty collapsed between Scott and Janet on the sand, the gas station-plastic, neon colored Frisbee clutched in one hand. Michael and another boy from school he called Andy had started a fire, and were feeding it tinder slowly and carefully, coaxing it into a large flame. Conversation buzzed happily, and Kitty leaned over to Janet and whispered, "This is nice."

"Oh, you haven't even seen the half of it, because I—" Janet paused dramatically and raised her small back pack.

"Brought s'mores stuff!" Lindsey squealed from the other side of Scott.

"Exactly." Janet dug out a package of marshmallows, a box of graham crackers, and a handful of chocolate candy bars.

"Awesome!" Michael yelled, punching one fist into the air.

"You are terrific," Andy declared. He held out one hand and wiggled his fingers pleadingly.

Janet preened in the spotlight. "Go find some good roasting sticks first," she ordered. Andy got up compliantly, assisted by a handful of other people.

"Are you the s'mores person for these things?" Kitty asked curiously. "Or is this just a one-time thing?"

Janet laughed. "I'm the food person, for this and everything. Mike's brother will send him with booze, sometimes, except for he's out of town this weekend, and we take turns being the designated driver."

"Nice," Kitty grinned. People with handfuls of roasting sticks and tinder returned to the circle, and Kitty grabbed a couple of marshmallows and skewered them on a stick.

By the time everyone had had several s'mores, the reflection of the full moon was skittering across the small waves that made the ocean tremble. Kitty tilted her head back to study the stars that were strewn across the sky and sighed with delight. She had never seen a sight like this in all her years in New York City; of course there were vacations and trips to visit Henry's parents, but there was something different to know that she lived under these stars. That such a lovely night sky wasn't just a loan.

Across the circle, Natalie sighed. "I guess Sam's friends aren't gonna show up after all."

"They almost never show at night, anyways," Ashley pointed out.

"Too bad," Terry commented, grinning. "I'd've liked to seen them cliff dive."

Andy made a face. "This time of year?" he asked. "The water would be freezing!"

"A friend says she's seen them doing it in the middle of February," Janet commented incredulously. Seeing Kitty's questioning glance, she explained, "Sometimes, daredevils go out to ledge half way up that cliff," she pointed, "and jump off for kicks and giggles."

"Sam and his friends do it all the way from the top," Natalie injected.

"Wow," Kitty said, eyeing the cliff a mile or so down the beach. "It's so tall—that's crazy!"

"They _are_ crazy," Tina snapped.

"Well, I think they're brave," Natalie replied, her voice awed.

"You would."

"Come on, guys," Ashley interrupted. "This is supposed to be fun! And we have the perfect atmosphere to brief Kitty on some of Forks's…_darker secrets._"

Kitty perked up. "Dark secrets?"

"Oh yeah." Ashley grinned wickedly. "Betcha didn't realize Forks had some of its very own horror stories, huh?"

"Who would have guessed, right?" Mike chuckled. "We haven't even got our own mall!"

"Shh, you're killing the mood!" Ashley complained, elbowing him.

"What kind of horror stories?" Kitty wanted to know.

"A modern one." Janet's voice was low and ominous. "One that still affects us all today. Forks doesn't have ghosts or zombies or angry spirits, but we do have…_the beasts_.

"A few years back, reports of large bears in the areas around Forks started coming in. Their size, if it wasn't fabricated, would have put grizzlies and polar bears to shame. Taller than a grown man when they stood on all four feet. The one most often reported was black as midnight, although various others were reported. But there were some who saw the bears closer and said that they weren't even bears at all…" Janet looked over pointedly at Tina.

"Hmph. My cousin was one of those people who got a close and personal view, or so he says." Tina's voice was like acid, but she seemed to be enjoying the attention. "He was probably lying, anyways. But he and my older brother had gone out on a camping trip just a couple of years ago, out off the regular trails. They were experienced, you see, and were aiming for a large clearing several miles north of here. They reached the spot after a couple of days, and planned to stay there for two nights.

"The first night was routine. They collapsed and slept well, tired after hiking all day. The second day was just as ordinary. They hung out, made a fire, ate dehydrated food..." Tina made a face. "But in the middle of the night, my cousin Don heard a noise. He was a light sleeper, you know, and so even though the noise was quite soft, he heard the whuffling outside his tent.

"There were no heavy footsteps or rustling noises to make him suspect anything other than that a raccoon had found some morsel of food he or my brother had forgotten to store properly. Because he was focused on seeing such a small creature, when Don stepped outside the tent to shoo it away, it was a moment before horror set in. At first, he was only dazed, because instead of a small raccoon, he saw three giant, looming shadows on the edge of the clearing. Then the cloud that had been masking the moon, as full as it is tonight," Tina paused and gestured to the sky with one hand, "and he saw what they really were.

"There were three of them, he told us. One, clearly the leader, was shaggy with reddish brown fur. His henchmen, perched to either side of him, wore shorter fur. One was a deep chocolate brown, and the other was steely gray with black spots on his back. There noses, which had been against the ground studying some invisible trail, slowly turned up towards Don. They were as big as a house, he says, as big as all the reports had said, with predatory muscles and intelligent eyes. But most amazing, these beasts were no bears.

"They were _wolves._"

Tina's voice, which had adjusted to the tone of the story, reverted to its normal, ridiculing tone. "Of course," she said, "he also claims that they left, and that doesn't make any sense at all. Because if it were true, they so would have killed them. They've killed people before, after all."

"Kill? Humans?" Kitty squeaked.

"Yeah." Janet nodded gravely. "Because while the reports have kept springing up in the past years, there are always more beast sightings around the times that the _remains_ are found."

"Oh my god." Kitty's eyes widened.

Janet leaned forward into the circle and dropped her voice to a whisper. "They almost never find bodies," she murmured. "Sometimes there's a little hair, or skin. But there's always blood." Kitty stifled a gasp.

"Aw, look," Tina laughed. "She's _scared_."

Natalie shivered. "I don't see why she shouldn't be," she protested. "No one's ever been able to kill one of those things!"

"Yeah," Janet said eagerly. "They're all still out there—_breeding_, probably!" Natalie shuddered again.

"Oh that's such a horrid thought!" Ashley exclaimed, gripping Mike tightly. He hugged her closely in reply.

"There's nothing to worry about," he said confidently, though it was hard to tell whether he was reassuring Ashley, or Kitty, who had gone rather pale. "No one's found any blood in the last three years. And there hasn't even been a sighting for the last couple of months!"

"Yeah, this is probably all going to be one big urban legend in a couple of years," Terry added. "Just think, Tina—your cousin is going to be remembered for decades to come!"

"No one will remember his name though," Tina sniffed. "So it practically doesn't count. It's not like being a movie star or anything."

It was only a little while later when the conversation was interrupted by the chirping of a cell phone. "Crap," Janet muttered, fumbling as she got it out of her bag. "I _know_ I told my mother I was too busy to baby sit tonight—oh!" she exclaimed as she looked at the caller ID. "Thank goodness."

"Who is it?" Kitty wanted to know.

"It's Heather. Heather Teak." Janet flipped open the phone. "Talk to me."

Tina snickered from across the circle, and Janet and Kitty turned to glare at her at the same time. Heather had kept up her generally morose, but helpful attitude throughout the week in Chemistry, explaining some of the more elusive concepts to Kitty after class, and offering to feed Kitty any time she was sick of the meatless diet put in place by Stella (it was amazing how many people immediately offered food when her stepmother was brought up in conversation). True, she was a little—Kitty struggled for a word—_odd_, but the former New Yorker was fairly sure most of that seeming came from the normal and sometimes boring backdrop of Forks.

"Yeah, I'm out," Janet said. "No, not anything important…Yeah, I'm with some friends, nothing important…" At this, Janet glared at Tina. "You know Kitty Thompson, the new girl? Yeah…Uh-huh…That's sounds great! I'll ask. I'm down at La Push…Alright. See you in a few!"

She bent down to put her phone back into her back pack. "Sorry, y'all. I'm bailing."

"But it's not even eight-thirty!" Ashley wailed.

"Yeah, I know. But me and Heather want to catch the ten o'clock showing of that horror movie, and there's that awful drive to Port Angeles, you know." Janet made a face and turned to Kitty. "She said to tell you that you're welcome, if you want to come."

Kitty chewed on her bottom lip. "No, I think I'll hang out here," she decided. "Tell Heather I said maybe some other time."

"No problem," Janet said, standing up and stretching her arms up. "I'll catch everyone later."

"Here," Kitty offered. "I'll walk you up to where you two are meeting. I'll be back Ashley, everyone."

"See you in a few," Lindsey said brightly.

It was almost a ten minute walk up to the road where Janet was meeting Heather, so they didn't have to wait long before a battered white car with one headlight out appeared. "That's my ride," Janet said cheerfully. "Thanks for walking me. Tell everyone I'm sorry for leaving, and that I had fun."

"Alright," Kitty agreed. "I'll see you at school Monday."

Janet flashed a thumbs-up as Heather pulled to a stop in front of her, and Janet slipped into the front passenger seat. Heather manually rolled down one window. "Hey, Kitty. You sure you don't want to join us? We're probably gonna spend the night at my house tonight. Of course, that's not taking into account that my car's probably going to break down on the way home from Port Angeles." She sighed deeply, as if saying _what can you do?_

"No, I'm good. But thanks." Kitty smiled and waved as Heather nodded, rolled up her window, and pulled away.

She started the walk back down to the beech slowly, pulling her jacket around her shoulders securely and breathing in the brisk night air slowly. The trees in the forest that started just a couple of feet to her left swayed in the breeze. It really was lovely out, she thought, running her fingers loosely through her hair. And so quiet! It was as if everything had already gone to bed for the night—such a big difference from the city that never sleeps.

It wasn't hard for Kitty to blame the unaccustomed silence for her uneasiness at first. Being alone was an experience as well; people jostling her from all sides was something one learned to take for granted, after all. And the dark! Without street lamps and lit-up signs to light the way, shadows could creep everywhere. The full moon was even covered by a cloud, and the stars, though numerous, were hardly bright enough to pierce through a veil so shaded and primitive, it was if humans didn't even rule anymore.

There was a rustle in the bushes a few feet into the trees. Kitty froze momentarily, but chided herself for being silly when she head a faint, muffled giggle. It was just Tina and Terry, she told herself, sneaking away from the rest of the group to make out, as they had periodically all evening. Without thinking, Kitty started over towards where the bushes were. She wondered if it was childish to go see if they wanted to walk back to the beach with her, but decided it wasn't almost immediately. She just wanted to make sure Natalie wasn't worried. After all, she had seemed pretty upset when Tina…had told the stories…about the…

Wolves…

Kitty froze, suddenly terrified. The forest seemed to loom around her, blocking out what little light even the stars had brought. She shook her head, trying to clear it, and cursed her own silliness. Giant wolves! It was just Tina and Terry, enjoying each other's company and the September night…

A twig behind her snapped.

Blind instinct took over, and Kitty ran. It didn't matter anymore that she probably couldn't have outran a mugger in Central Park, with witnesses all around, let alone a giant, hungry wolf. It didn't even matter that there probably wasn't even any giant, hungry wolves, or even bears, for that matter. It didn't matter that even if there _were _giant, hungry wolves, they probably wouldn't eat humans. Wolves didn't usually eat people, after all, did they?

Kitty ran and ran and ran.


End file.
